Explore how to apply open innovation for competitive advantage

In today’s world, the development of new products and services is not confined within one organisation or indeed one country. To succeed, businesses must be willing to work with others, to spot and develop ideas – a model known as open innovation.

This free online course is about how you can find ideas for innovation from the outside world – for example, suppliers, competitors or customers – and assimilate them into your own supply chain, to develop new processes, products and services.

The course offers insight and research into how an organisation, regardless of its location, can harness the latest thinking in applying open innovation to achieve competitive advantage.

The course builds on research and practice on open innovation, supply chain management and intellectual capital within Durham University Business School.

0:13Skip to 0 minutes and 13 secondsIn today's world, the development of new products and services is not confined within one organisation, or indeed within one country. To succeed, businesses must be willing to work with others to spot, develop, and implement ideas. This is a model often referred to as open innovation. In this course we'll be exploring what open innovation is, and thinking about how it can be applied. We will try to answer questions such as where do ideas come from, what are the benefits, and of course what are the risks associated with open innovation. Finally, we try to explore how it can work for you. Over the last few years here at Durham University Business School, we have been conducting some cutting-edge research on open innovation.

1:01Skip to 1 minute and 1 secondSo what we would like to do as part of this course is to share some of the conclusions of this research with you. We will be looking at examples where it has and has not worked, and try to identify the factors that enable open innovation. This is going to be an interactive course, where you will be discussing ideas, and develop your thinking on open innovation. We will also try to explore how it can be applied to your own organisation, or at that the very least, one that you're interested in. So join us in learning about what open innovation is, and how it can help develop a competitive edge.

What topics will you&nbspcover?

Introduction to open innovation

Sources of ideas and innovation

Processes for open innovation

Processes and benefits of supply chain integration

Impact of information on managing the innovation process

Types of integration and impact of a product’s newness

Risks of open innovation and the dark side of integration

Introduction to absorptive capacity and its impact on open innovation

The conditions for open innovation

The impact of social capital and the organisational network

Process innovation lifecycle

Stages of process innovation and link to integration

Challenges in measuring the impact of open innovation

Open innovation and services

Challenges in converting to an open innovation model

When would you like to&nbspstart?

Most FutureLearn courses run multiple times. Every run of a course has a set start date but you can join it and work through it after it starts.
Find out more

Available now

This course started 1 April 2019

What will you&nbspachieve?

By the end of the course, you'll be able to...

Explain what open innovation is and its impact on competitive advantage

Compare open innovation against other innovation models in product, process and service contexts

Identify sources of ideas and ways of engaging with open innovation across the supply chain

Identify the challenges associated with the implementation of open innovation

Apply open innovation in service, product and process contexts

Who is the course&nbspfor?

Open Innovation is designed for anyone with an interest in research and development, or supply chain management. It will be equally relevant to those working in either services, process or product-orientated businesses. A business background is not essential but is advantageous.